Player characters (PCs) are skilled in one or more classes. The fourclassical Advanced Dungeons and Dragons (AD&D) classes are warrior,cleric, mage, and thief. More specialized classes that were addedinclude sorcerer, druid, ranger, paladin, monk, psionist, and barbarian.Descriptions of each of these classes are provided below.

Some classes may be combined to form a multiclass character, such as anElven Mage/Thief or a Dwarven Cleric/Warrior. Multiclass combinationsare limited by race. See the Racial Class Limitations post in thisforum for more info on that topic.

Multiclass PCs are limited in how well they can master their skillsdue to having to master the skills of multiple classes. Thus dual-classPCs are limited to 87% skill level (on a scale of 1-100%), whiletri-classed PCs are limited to 80%. Multiclass sorcerers get fewerspells (about half for dual-classed PCs, 1/3 for tri-classed PCs).And, of course, multi-classed PCs are slower to advance in levelssince they have to split experience (XP) among their classes.

Warrior: The backbone of any fighting force.Warriors are the basic cannon fodder of the game. They fight well andcan use some magic items (though they can't cast magic.) They geta lot of hit points and are able to use a wider array of weapons andarmor than other classes. To be good fighters they must be strong, healthy,and dexterous.

Newbie Warrior tip: Warriors' primary skill is "bash". Study it early and use it often.

Newbie Warrior tip 2: Half-giant (HG) is the only PC race that can bash huge mobs (in-gamemonsters) such as dragons. Hence HG warriors are quite popular.

Cleric: Healers and casters of spells.Clerics channel the powers of their deity to bestow healing and protectionspells on themselves and others. They are expecially useful in groups fortheir ability heal and protect warriors and other group members. Their mostuseful spells are "heal" which bestows 100 hitpoints on the target, and "sanctuary" which bestows protection to the target such that they will onlyincur 1/2 of normal damage from attacks. They can also employ several usefulutility spells such as "fly", "true sight", "summon" and "locate object".At higher levels they can even ressurect the dead!

Clerics are also pretty fair fighters if they are properly equipped to fight.They gain a fair amount of hps and can use a pretty good array of weapons and armor.To achieve their maximum powers, clerics need to be wise and intelligent, but tobe decent fighters they also need decent strength, health, and dexterity.

Mage (Magic User): Casters of powerful spells.Mages channel unseen forces to perform powerful and violent magic, but a magecannot control nature and therefore cannot cast healing spells like clerics do.By themselves, mages are poor fighters. They gain lower hitpoints than any otherclass and are usually quite physically weak. But what they lack in physicalprowess they make up for in their ability to do great damage with spells likefireball, chain lightning, meteor swarm, and disintegrate.

Mages also have their own useful utility spells such as "identify", "know monster","haste", and "portal".

To fully master their arts, mages need to be highly intelligent and have goodwisdom.

Newbie Mage tip: Learn "magic missile" early and use it often.

Thief: These sneaky characters have a mighty backstab!Thieves are known to have very special skills that no other classoffers. These skills can come in handy in many situations. They can pickpockets (steal), avoid monsters (sneak, hide, and disguise), defeat locks (pick),find and remove traps (find traps and disarm), and scout ahead (spy)

But a thief's most prized skill is backstab. Backstab is the single most powerfulphysical attack in the game. Using backstab, the amount of damage a thief caninflict on his victim is as high as 19x normal damage a warrior can inflict.

At low levels however, thieves are not very combat oriented. So do notexpect to be able to kill many things by yourself until your backstab reacheslethal levels.

First and foremost, thieves need to be highly dexterous to pull off the stunts theyattempt to perform. Beyond that, good strength helps them deliver more damagewith their backstabs, and high charisma gets them better deals with merchants.

Sorcerer: Use their minds to perform mage-like skillsSorcerers are a specialized class of magic user. Sorcerers get all the same spellsand skills that Mages get but use their mind to store and recall spells ratherthan using mana to channel magical powers as mages do. By making the effort tomemorize spells, they can later cast those spells with 100% success, even in battle.

The drawbacks to sorcerers are that they must spend considerable time and effortin mem'ing spells and they can then only cast the spells they memorized beforehand.So they have a lot of downtime as they memorize and they must try to foresee what spellsthey may need for whatever their next adventure may be.

Druid: Spell casters in tune with the balance of nature.Druids combine some cleric skills with some mage skills and add some of theirown specialized skills in fulfilling their mission to maintain the balancebetween good and evil in the world. Druids must maintain a neutral alignmentat all times or they lose levels. Even worse, a druid who has strayed too farfrom the path of neutrality loses his special abilities and forever becomesa generic cleric.

Druids gain resistance to charm at level 14 and immunity to poison atlevel 32. Druids also have the unique ability to reincarnate other PCs toa different race. There are various reasons why a PCs might want to changehis race but one common reason is that his current races limits how far he canadvance in his class(es).

Druids can also utilize the most powerful form of death magic known in the realms.By casting "creeping death" he summons a horde of insects that move off in aspecified direction, killing anything in it's path.

When a druid has reached a high enough level, the supreme druid guildmaster,Silverleaf, has deemed that it is necessary for him or her to fight another druidof similar level in order to advance. The challenge must be done withoutthe aid of material possessions or allies to prove the worthiness of thedruid. To the north of Silverleaf, in a place only druids may enter,lies the druid challenge room. Once there, Silverleaf suggests listeningvery carefully to what the druid assistant has to say.

Druids generally aren't as good at fighting as clerics are but are better thanmages. Like clerics, druids need to be both wise and intelligent to master theirskills

Newbie Druid tip 2: Learn "know alignment" and use it on yourself frequentlyto keep an eye on your alignment. You'll get a finer gradation of alignment thanyou get from the "score"" command.

Newbie tip 3: The spells "detect evil" and "detect good" will help you select theproperly aligned mobs to adjust your alignment as needed

Paladin: Warriors of light, blessed by the gods.Paladins are holy warriors, protectors of the church, and the gen"Kind" or higher alignment (+350 or higher on a -1000 to +1000 alignment scale). A Paladin whofalls from the path may never become a Paladin again, but is instead a simplewarrior from then on.

Paladins have the innate abilities of detecting evil and protection fromevil. They also have some cleric skills as well as special skills that theyand only they can use.

Paladins are fearsome fighters. They gain as many hitpoints as warriors andlike warriors, they can bash their opponents. They also have access to powerfulweapons and other equipment that only paladins can use.

Because their training and profession is so demanding, paladins need to bestrong, healthy, and dextrous like warriors and also wise like clerics.

Newbie Paladin tip: Learn "know alignment" and use it on yourself frequentlyto keep an eye on your alignment. You'll get a finer gradation of alignment thanyou get from the "score"" command

Ranger: Wilderness fighters for the cause of good.Rangers are warriors of the woods. They are expert trackers andlearn the ways to best protect and live in a woodland environment. Rangersalignment must never become evil (below -350, so "Somewhat Rude" is the lowestalignment a Ranger wants to see when checking "Score"). A Ranger who falls fromthe path is permanently a simple warrior.

Rangers have semi-cleric/druid abilities. As the Ranger progresseshe can learn specific spells that have to do with forest/animaltraining. Most skills that a Ranger uses must be used OUTSIDE. OUTSIDE isconsidered to be in a forest, desert, arctic tundra or anywhere not inside.

Rangers are also very capable fighters. They gain as many hitpoints aswarriors and can bash like warriors. They are somewhat more limited inwhat equipment they can use but they can use some specialized equipmentthat only rangers can use. Rangers also have the special skill of DUAL WIELDwhich allows them to attack with two weapons at time.

Rangers need to be strong, healthy, dexterous, and wise to reach theirmaximum potential.

Newbie Ranger tip: A good way to see if you are outside is to use theWEATHER command.

Monk: Master of their own bodies.Monks are a very special class, with a variety of advantages anddisadvantages.

Disadvantages:*These masters of unarmed combat carry very little equipment. Their vowsdo not allow them to have more than 25 items, so choose carefully. They mayalso carry up to 25 food or drink items above this. If the game reboots orcrashes while a monk has too many items they lose EVERYTHING!*Monks cannot use banks until they are level 40.*Monks lose experience if they flee unsuccessfully from a mob that islower level than they are.*Monks have very limited access to armor and weapons, and do not get asmany hit points as a warrior.*Monks cannot bash.

Advantages:*A monk's kick does his level in damage, while other PCs' kicks only dohalf level.*Monks are immune to hold (paralysis) at level 10, resistant to charm atlevel 18, immune to poison at level 22, and immune to charm at level 36.*Monks regenerate move at twice the rate of most other classes.*Monk armor class drops 5 points per level to, at best, -50 (not countingdexterity, etc.)*Monks get double dex bonuses to Armor Class.*Monks have access to some thief skills.*Unarmed monks get more attacks per round than other classes.The formula used for the number of attacks that an unarmed monk will get perround is: level 1 to 8 level 9 to 50-------------- ---------------- level/8 + 1 level/16 + 1.5The fractional portion will provide the probability of getting an extraattack each round. (i.e. if you were VERY lucky, a 2nd level monk could get 2attacks every round, but probably won't)*Monks get improved bare handed damage as follows: Level Damage Level Damage Level Damage Level Damage 1- 3 1d3 15-19 2d4 30-34 4d4 42-44 6d4 4- 5 1d4 20-21 3d3 35-36 4d5 45-49 6d5 6-11 1d6 22-26 3d4 37-41 5d4 50 8d4 12-14 2d3 27-29 4d3

When a young monk has reached a high enough level, Gifft, the Monk Grandmaster,has declared that he or she must fight and defeat a monk of equal skillin order to advance. The challenge must be performed alone and without anymaterial possessions in order to prove the monk's worthiness.

Monks also have the ability to focus their inner ki (focus ki) to simulatea warrior's ability to bash.

Like other fighters, monks should be strong, healthy, and dexterous.

Newbie Monk tip: Don't use weapons to fight. Your hands are as lethalas any weapon you might use.

Psionist: Those who have developed the powers of their mind.Psionist are characters that use the power of the mind. They cansummon people from great distances and they have been known to blastthe mind of powerful beings to jelly! They also have natural telepathy,requiring no study.

Psionists can fight at about the level of thieves, if they are equippedfor fighting. At the same time, their mind skills can rival the most powerfulmage spells in inflicting damage to victims. Psionists can also use telekenesisto simulate a warrior's ability to bash.

Obviously psionists need to be very intelligence while good wisdom certainlyhelps as well.

Psionist use the command MIND to activate most of their skills, besure to see the help section on MIND.

Barbarian: Big fighters who cannot use any magic items.Barbarians are impressive fighters with a tendency to go berserk. They cantake more damage then any other class. They are, however, completelyunable to use, or even hold, any item with the taint of magic. This meansthey will never be as well armored, or have the magical advantages, of awarrior.

Barbarians get innate bonuses to hit and damage as they rise inlevel. The formula for hit bonus is (lvl+3)/9, and for damage bonusis (lvl-3)/9. For true barbarians, who can't do math, that is:Hit bonuses at levels 6, 15, 24, 33, 42.Damage bonuses at levels 12, 21, 30, 39, 48

Newbie Barbarian tip: A Barbarian's primary skill is "bash". Study it early and use it often.

Newbie Warrior tip 2: Half-giant (HG) is the only PC race that can bash huge mobs (in-gamemonsters) such as dragons. Hence HG barbarians are popular in groups.

Newbie Barbarian tip 3: Because of the severe equipment limitations on barbarians, theyare very difficult to equip and therefore to play. If you are new to the game, considerplaying a warrior first before you try to play a barbarian.

So, which class should you play when you first start? Well that mostly depends on which class most appeals to you. First and foremost, this is a game and you should pick a class that you think you will enjoy playing. You really can't choose wrong since you can remake and start over as a new class any time you choose.

That said, here's a few tips:

1) Single class (SC) half-giant (HG) warrior (Wa): This is by far the easies class to play. They are bigger and stronger than everyone else, with lots of hitpoints (hps) and are easy to equip. As warriors, they can't starve to death or die of thirst. (They still get hungry and thirsty and won't regen any hps or movment when they are, but the don't lose hps like all the other classes do. Why? I don't know. It's just how the game is coded.) And being single class, they advance in levels very rapidly.

2) Dual-class Trollish Cleric/Warrior (Cl/Wa): This is my favorite starting class. You get all the advantages of being a warrior but you get to cast cool spells too, including being able to protect and heal your self. In fact, this class is totally self sufficient. Why trollish? Because trolls are also big and strong with lots of hps. Plus they have a special hp regen process that allows them to naturally heal all on their own, even during combat. That said, they aren't as big as HGs, so they can't bash huge mobs. Why not a HG Cl/Wa? Because HGs are too dumb to be able to multi-class.

3) Tri-class Human Mage/Cleric/Warrior (Ma/Cl/Wa): Overall this class is generally the most powerful class combination in the game. It combines all the powers and skills of mage, cleric, and warrior classes. Every experienced player I know uses this class combo for their main PC. Why human? Because human is the only race that can max out the levels of each of class and reach 50/50/50. One drawback to this class is that they get fewer hps than SC warriors and less mana than SC mages and clerics. For example a SC WA can easily have 400+ hps at level 50 while a Ma/Cl/Wa will have only around 250. Another drawback is that, being tri-class, the best they can maintain their skills at is a "good" level, which means that without the aid of equipment bonuses, they will fail at their skills on average about 20% of the time at best. Lastly, since they are tri-class, any experience they earn is split equally among each class. This means they advance much more slowly than single class PCs do. For comparison, a SC Wa needs only (yes, I said only) 70M xp to gain to level 50 while a Ma/Cl/Wa will need to earn a total of 240M xp to reach 50/50/50. So this class isn't for someone looking to excel in a particular class or wanting to quickly advance in levels.

4) Sorcerer: This class can be fun to play for experienced players (or so they tell me, I've never had the patience to play one) but if you are new to the game I recommend you avoid this class, even in combination with other classes. You will spend the vast majority of your time sitting and memming spells. This time could be better spend going about getting a feel for your surroundings and learning the basic game mechanics. And here's a secret: When a SC mage has become "learned" in a spell, his spellfail (SF) in that spell is as low as 5%. Wear a -5 SF item and you will rarely , if ever, fail in that spell. So if you are new to the game and want to be a magic user, I recommend you start out as a mage.

But really, any class or class combo can be fun to play. Pick the class and race combo that most appeals to you and have fun playing it. Later you can experiment with other classes and races by making more PCs (yes, you can have as many as you like!).